Cherishing Destiny (A Dangerous Destiny) (22 page)

Alex went to see Gates.  He thought about summoning him,
but he figured that he had done enough to humble the Vampire over the last
couple of days and after all, he was an elder and Alex did not truly want to undermine
his authority.  He already told Gates about appointing the three interim council
members, and that hadn’t gone over particularly well.

“What do you mean you appointed them already?” Gates was
not doing a great job of disguising his anger.

“I mean that I’ve executed my right to make an executive
decision as the highest ranking, current council member.” Alex said.

“You should have consulted me.  It’s not as if I’ve been
unavailable for consultation.”  It was true that Alex could have tracked down
Gates if he chose to, but Gates had unquestionably been avoiding Alex as much
as possible.

“I understand that you would like some input, so I think
you should interview any new prospects that arrive in my absence and you may
then put forth names of your own for consideration of an additional three
appointments when Aurora and I return.  That will give us nine council members
with three permanent elder members and six interim members, assuming that no
other elders show up in the mean time.”

That was what he told Gates about the new council, but
today he wanted to make sure that Gates would follow his wishes while he was
gone. 

“When can I expect your return?” Gates asked, still
sulking.

“I have no idea.  It will depend largely on the weather. 
The snows are due anytime, and with the weather turning colder and wetter, I’m
not sure if I will be back before spring.”

“Spring is a long time away. Do you expect me to run things
with only your three new appointees?”

“Yes, and I am leaving Reginald here to run the new house
and document new information for me, so I have a record when I return.”

Gates snorted a laugh. “Reginald.  You mean that old
servant of yours?”

“He is not a servant.  He’s a valet.”

“A valet? That’s rich, but a little old fashioned don’t you
think?” Gates was dripping sarcasm.

Alex’s lips were drawn into a thin, angry line.  “Fine,
call him a Personal Assistant if you like, but you will have one of the new
appointees give Reginald minutes of your meetings and copies of your decisions,
to keep a record for me.”

Gates paced to a window and stood gazing out, making clear
he was bored with the conversation already.  Without looking at Alex, he said,
“don’t worry, I will make sure your PA is kept in the loop.” 

“I would like you to see if someone can find me a silver
weapon.  If the
Were
cats can carry it against us, we can carry it
against them.”

“We are not exactly crawling with silver swords, but I know
of one man who was putting together a small collection of mostly ceremonial
weapons that were plate at least for that exact purpose.”

“That will do. I am going to find some snowshoes and other
winter supplies, so have your man meet me at my house later this afternoon.  I intend
to leave in the morning.”

Gates turned back from the window.  “Snowshoes, winter
supplies, where are you going exactly?”  He tried to sound nonchalant about it,
but he was beginning to think it might be best if the Lakes didn’t make it back
to Syracuse.  He didn’t want to lose more Vampires, but the Lakes were too old
and powerful to control.  He might have to take steps. 

Alex had no intention of telling anyone where his cabin was,
and his answer was vague. “My cabin is in the mountains, but I will do my best
to get back before spring.”

“Yes, of course, we will need all the Vampires we can find,
especially elders if we are going to get through this.”  Gates cringed inside
at the false words he was forced to speak.  Vampires like the Lakes were going speed
the downfall of the species if he didn’t do something about it. 
I guess
it’s lucky that I can do something about it
.

Alex took his leave and Gates called in a guard. “Go find
the Chief and tell him, I want to see him right away.”

The guard visibly paled but, “Yes, Sir,” was all he said.

Alex gathered his supplies and returned to the house where
the collector was waiting.

“I’m Archie McPherson, but everybody just calls me Mac. I
got some nice pieces for you to look at.” The stout man was in the study with
Reginald when Alex arrived, and a large rolled bundle lay on the table in front
of him. 

Mac reached out to shake Alex’s hand, and when Alex took
it, he found himself in one of those--who’s got the manlier grip--competitions. 
The man smelled like any mortal, so Alex squeezed, but not hard enough to hurt
him.  He was shocked when the man squeezed back with surprising strength.  Alex
put on the pressure, and when Mac responded with his own increased grip, Alex
caught a brief flash in Mac’s eyes.
A Were!

Ryan taught Alex that the
Weres
would only smell
like creatures when they shifted or changed, and if the shift was subtle, then
so would be the scent.
Quickly, before it could dissipate, Alex scented
deeply.
A wolf so not likely an assassin.
He relaxed his grip and so did
Mac.  Reginald never noticed the silent contest taking place. 

Mac unrolled the cloth bundle and four silver plated
ceremonial swords that were wrapped inside.  Alex looked them over, being
careful not to touch the silver blades.  In places on the pommels where silver had
been inlaid, they were wrapped tightly in tape.  He tested the weight of the blades
and selected one that felt as serviceable as it looked ceremonial.  Just then a
boy came to the doorway of the study and Reginald went to speak with him. 
After a brief whispered conversation, Reginald turned back to the men. “Please,
excuse me.  I must see to an issue with the horses.”  He left following the
boy.

Alex stood with the sword in his hand looking at Mac. 
“You’re a Wolf.  Are you spying here?”

“Wolves are not the enemy of Vampires.  Why would I be
spying? I’m just trying to do my part finding weapons for travelers.”

“So then, Samuel Gates is fully informed of the presence of
Were
-wolves in town.” Alex narrowed his eyes at big Mac.

“Not wolves, wolf,” said Mac. “And If you tell Gates I’m a
Were
,
I will be forced to leave, and the ones that need weapons around here will be
the poorer for it.”

“If we’re not enemies then why would you need to leave?”
Alex asked.

“I don’t trust that guy,” Mac said. “I know he has dealings
with at least one mercenary
Were
-panther.  I don’t have any reason to
believe that this
Were
has anything to do with the ones working with the
Hunters.  There’s lots of mercs that don’t, but mercenary
Weres
give me
the creeps and they call this one the Chief.  He’s a tracker, and I heard, maybe,
an assassin too.” 

“So, why the handshake from hell?” Alex asked.  This wolf
was stirring his interest.

Mac smiled, and Alex was reminded of Ryan. “I heard that
Vamps were getting weak.  I just wanted to know the truth.”

“And do you know it now?”

“You seem pretty strong to me, but I guess I don’t know how
strong you used to be, so that doesn’t really tell me anything.” Mac shrugged.

“So, you just wanted to know, and you heard about Gates and
a
Were
-panther.  Are you still going to deny that you’re a spy?” 

“I’m not saying that I don’t share information with wolves,
just like I do with humans and Vamps, but that doesn’t make me a spy.”

“Semantics,” Alex laughed.

“I know you don’t trust
Weres
. Are you going to tell
Gates? Do I need to pack up?” Mac looked at Alex’s face to see if he would believe
the answer. 

“I’m not going to tell Gates.  As a matter of fact, I have
a little proposition for you that could be beneficial to us both.”  Alex
thought again about Ryan and the fact that he had saved Alex on more than one
occasion.  “By the way, you’re wrong.  I do trust a
Were
.  A wolf is
watching over my wife as we speak.”

Twenty-five

Ryan was making his way out of the settlement when he
passed by a house with a huge round metal tub in the yard, filling with rain
water.  It gave him an idea, and he knocked on the front door of the house.

A few minutes later, he was tying the tub, upside down to
the pack straps on the second horse.  He had to throw a blanket over it to keep
the rain from making a racket when it struck the tub like a drum. 

He headed back by a slightly different route.  He tried not
to travel by any one certain path more than once in a month or two so that he
never left a trail that seemed well used or habitual.  Less than half a day
from the Cabin he crossed a jeep trail that had been utterly washed out by the
rains.  It had been a difficult road in the past, and it was practically non-existent,
now.  He tied up the horses for a rest while he ran through the trees on foot,
following parallel to what used to be the jeep trail.  As he suspected, it
ended at a fishing lodge or what used to be a fishing lodge anyway.   He moved
carefully and found that it was utterly deserted.  The main lodge had a large
central great room with a fireplace tall enough to stand in.  Two wings
extended from either end of the great room.  One must have been two stories of
guest rooms before but was totally collapsed now.  The debris closed off that
end of the great room, effectively creating a wall that still kept the central
area fairly weather tight.  The second wing was a single story and contained a
kitchen, dining hall, game room and what must have been an owner or manager’s
apartment.  It wasn’t fancy, just a small living room and a couple of
bedrooms.  The closets were open and mostly empty.  A few clothes were strewn
on the beds along with a lot of empty hangers.  Someone had packed as much as
they could in a big hurry.  He saw candles and a couple of oil lamps sitting
around.  Their generator must have stopped, and they had no electricity.  As
near as he could tell, they left shortly after the Solar Storm.  It was clear
that they made it out before the road washed out.  He didn’t think that they
would be back anytime soon even if they did make it through the earthquakes,
Hunters, and sickness.  He grabbed a couple of cans of food and an opener from
the kitchen.
Great! Peaches! Sara will be thrilled.
  He laughed out loud
in the quiet of the lodge and headed back at a jog. 

When he rode up to the cabin, it was eerily silent.  His
heart started pounding when he began to think that something must have happened
to the women.  Someone stepped around the corner of the cabin, pointing a cross
bow at him.  He shifted and was halfway to the intruder before he realized it
was Sara.  He stopped abruptly and shifted back, standing naked in the rain.  His
clothes were ruined and laying in the mud back by his horse.  He felt the prick
of another Arrow in his back.  Sara, in front of him, lowered her crossbow. 
Aurora, at his back, removed the point from his skin and said, “Nice bathtub.” 

Sara was still laughing a few minutes later when they
carried the tub into the cabin.  Ryan’s torn shirt was tied around his waist,
covering what needed to be covered – not that he was shy or that Sara and
Aurora hadn’t seen him naked on more than one recent occasion.  They unloaded
the supplies into the cabin, and Sara led the horses to the trees around the
back. Curious, Ryan followed her. 

It seemed that while Ryan was gone, Sara and Aurora had
used green branches and saplings to weave a fence around some of the trees
behind the cabin, creating a small holding pen for the horses.  They also built
a roof of branches on some poles to create a little semi-dry shelter.  The
rickety shelter made him think about the tarps strung in Lily’s yard.  He
blushed and was glad Sara couldn’t see him well enough in the rain to know.

When they went back inside, Aurora was already boiling
water to fill the tub.  Once there was enough hot water in the tub, they
carried buckets of cold water in from the rain barrel outside.  They had fixed
that too, Ryan noted.  When he left there were caved in staves on the barrel,
and he wasn’t sure he would have known how to fix it, but Aurora must have
learned a few things in all her years.  He was suitably impressed.  When the tub
was full, Sara insisted that Aurora take the first turn. Aurora sat in the tub
with her knees up as her long legs could not stretch out in the round tub. 
Sara took some of the fragrant lavender soap that Ryan had brought back from
the settlement and lathered Aurora’s long burgundy locks with it.  She massaged
Aurora’s scalp with her fingertips, closing her eyes and breathing in the scent
of lavender and Aurora’s clean hair.  Aurora’s eyes were half-lidded as she
relaxed.  Her lush black lashes veiled the little bit of blue that was
visible.  Sara, very slowly and lovingly washed every part of Aurora with the
shrinking bar.   By the time she finished, her own clothes were wet and
clinging to her body.  Ryan, who was warming himself, sitting with his back to
the wall next to the fireplace, watched the entire ritual with a lazy,
satisfied grin.  He felt a warm stirring in his loins, and he stretched out his
legs when his position became a little uncomfortable.